


Lead Me to You

by Angelicat2



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Tumblr Post, Minor Character Death, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Season 7 Spoilers, shiro saves keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-27 00:56:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15674778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: Keith had disappeared after a battle. Shiro is shocked when he finds him again. Looks like it's his turn to save Keith and take out the bad guy.(aka the fic based on a post about Keith being used in the Altean robeast thing that attacked Atlas and Voltron at the end of Season 7)





	Lead Me to You

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Angsty Keith idea](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/406290) by Dent-de-lion. 



> I saw the post, read the comments, had to make a fic...Also, I used a sentence from Leo's post here.

Keith was gone.

Shiro frowned deeply as he stared out the window of the Atlas. They had no idea where Keith was. One moment, they had been in battle. The next, Black was thrown from Voltron, shattering into a nearby planet. Strangely, as soon as that had happened, the Galra forces disappeared as quickly as they had come. When Shiro and the others had pried open the doors, they were greeted with an empty seat, no red-armored paladin in sight, bayard still there on the seat.

Shiro wonders if this is what Keith had felt when he had disappeared. He'd heard the stories, or more like his clone had, and he knew he had disappeared the same way. Shiro clenched his right fist as he continued to stare out of the window. It had been months since Keith had vanished, and Shiro refused to give up on finding him. Without the younger there, Voltron had not been formed. Luckily, it was not needed between the help of the Blades, rebels, four operational lions, and Atlas. But Shiro knew that would come to an end soon. 

A burst of light echoed across the open space, heading to a close planet covered in tall trees and almost no wildlife. No people lived on the planet. As it neared the planet's atmosphere, streaks of scarlet and violet flame curled around it.

Shiro just knew it was now. Voltron would be needed, but couldn't be formed.

“Paladins,” he spoke into his comm system, “We have a visitor.”

“Roger that,” Lance answered back as a red streak raced by, followed by blue, yellow, and green ones. Only the purple light was missing, lion dead below without its pilot. Shiro raced to the bridge, taking his place as the rest of his crew slid into place. Giving the commands, they raced after the lions.

When they landed, they were not surprised to see another one of those machines that had crashed on Earth. They had been seen quite often, luckily always getting stopped before they could do much harm. They had pulled out every Altean within the robeasts. They never seemed to remember much of what happened to them other than a person having control of them, and that person was using a new person. Someone she'd been targeting for a while now.

So they knew each one they fought didn't want to. Each held an innocent soul inside. Glancing down at this one, it was different from the rest. Where the others were silver, this one was a scarlet-golden color. It seemed frozen in place, not searching for them yet. 

“What's the plan?” Hunk asked as the lions settled near Atlas, “What do we do?”

“We engage,” Shiro muttered as he watched, “But don't attack it directly. We need to see how it reacts. Most have attacked right away.”

They confirmed before racing away, the four circling around the taller machine. Said machine looked at them almost as if it was bored, barely moving. Allura sent out a blast of energy at it, only for it to evade almost as if by teleportation. As quickly as it vanished, it reappeared faster than any prior to it.

With a clash, a sword formed, bright red in a curved form. The robeast held the sword defensively as it rushed at the farthest lion. Pidge barely had pulled left before the sword was in the air, slashing through the air where the Green Lion had once occupied. Before the others could respond or do anything, the robeast slammed it's sword into the Red Lion, quintessence getting zapped out. Lance shouted on the system as he was flung into the hard dirt many yards away from the fight.

“Remember,” Shiro spoke up as he gripped his dash, “Don't get hit by the sword. They drain quintessence. The last thing we need is for it to outpower us even more.”

“Okay,” Allura stated as the Blue Lion listed right until it zapped the beast with its laser. The thing barely paused before it slammed its weapon into the Yellow Lion, raising a yelp from Hunk as he spiraled out of control into the forest by Lance.

The machine turned to the smallest. Speeding forward, it swung its sword. Pidge let out a cry as the weapon sent sparks through the air, tapping her lion's armor enough to send it falling to the ground. The same fate met Allura as a moment later, another red sword formed in the other hand, in the same red color but a more long, flat blade. It all looked familiar to Shiro in a way that nagged at him. Shiro had seen it somewhere before. Someone used it often.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Shiro pushed his energy into the Atlas, feeling it shift into its form. Facing the much smaller machine, Shiro frowned as he saw it pause off by the paladins. It was like it was teasing them by saying they were slow. A moment went by before it rushed at the larger ship. Shiro tossed the Atlas’ right arm at it only for it to duck and fly over them. Shiro quickly pushed the ship out of the way, missing the weapons. Firing his laser on the machine, he didn't even get close to touching it as it flew out of reach. Once again, it froze, almost as if shorting out before it swung its curved sword. Shiro pulled back, avoiding the blade as the machine froze again.

Seeing his only chance, Shiro punched his fist out. Surprisingly, Atlas’ hand smashed into something metal as the red mecha went flying through a few trees. Landing on its back, it stayed still for a few moments before getting back up. At this time, all four lions were by Shiro's side as they watched the machine come closer. A few steps in, it paused as if unsure about taking another step.

Something was really wrong with it.

“Is it just me,” Lance spoke incredulously as the Red Lion floated restlessly, “Or is it acting strange?”

“It's acting weird,” the Green Paladin agreed as the machine moved forward again before freezing, “They've never done that. They've always attacked.”

“Let's take it out,” Shiro ordered as he waved his arm. Lights lit up on the Atlas as Shiro swung at it. Once again, it didn't move as the hand crashed into it, sending it another direction until it skidded to a stop. It thrashed a few times before settling down, eyes no longer glowing.

“Let's get that Altean out of there.”

They all landed their individual machines as Shiro stepped out of the transformed Atlas. Sam, Veronica, and Coran stepped out with him as they approached the large machine. The other four met them as they made their way to the other. They had figured out a way to get the user inside out without it taking months or hours. Shiro frowned as they got to the panel in the middle. Pidge and Sam got to work opening it.

“Something's off,” Hunk frowned as he glanced from the door to them and back, “We won too easily.”

“We just got our quintessence sucked out us!” The Cuban exclaimed as he waved his hands, “How is that easy?”

“I have to agree,” Allura nodded as her eyes narrowed, “Something does not feel right. I don't like this.”

Shiro wanted to agree. Something was very off about this all. 

“Guys!” Pidge exclaimed as the doors began to open ever-so-slowly. As they gathered around it, they all froze at the sight. Shiro felt himself grow cold. 

Inside the place where every Altean had been placed before was a very familiar face. It was Keith.

He was unconscious, clearly not awake as his face strained. Unlike those other ones with Alteans, Keith had sweat on his face as he frowned deeply. His brow twitched as he laid there weakly, two headsets attached to his temples like the rest had had.

Shiro felt his anger flare. The witch!! She must have done it! She wasn't going to take Keith away too. As the thought flashed through his mind, Keith let out a gasp of pain. His brows scrunched down further as more sweat gathered. Shiro could see sharp fangs poking out of his mouth as he bit his lip. A small bead of blood dripped from it before Pidge yelped as the doors started to close. 

“Something's happening!” She shouted as Keith's face nearly disappeared, “We need to get to the lions!”

“And back to Atlas,” Sam stated as moved away from the machine as it started to move.

Shiro didn't glance at them but kept his eyes on Keith. The younger was muttering something under his breath. Shiro knew it was his name. Shaking his head he turned to them.

“Sam, Veronica, Coran, get back onto the Atlas and help any way you can,” the captain turned to the others, “Paladins, make sure to stay away from Keith. I think I know what is going to happen. If it does, I'll contact you guys.”

“What do you mean-" Coran was interrupted as the robeast got to its feet. Shakily, it stood above them. Shiro pulled his helmet over his head, sealing it. Nodding to them one last time, he raced forward. He leaped as the thing's foot left the ground. Catching the metal with his mechanical arm, he pulled himself up onto the machine. Clinging to it, he felt it push into the air.

Keith was in there somewhere. And Shiro knew he would never hurt his team and friends. Nor would he ever harm Shiro. 

Somehow, Shiro knew Haggar was forcing Keith back to her. Wherever she was, Shiro would be too. A shine of red light covered Shiro's vision before he felt tingly and light. Shiro had experienced this after Kosmo had teleported him into the Black Lion. It also was almost like what the druids did. Shiro swallowed as they reformed somewhere else.

Everything was dark and cool. One violet spear of light stood in front of them as the robeast went dead. Shiro jumped off it without any noise at all, ducking out of the way as the witch wandered to Keith, who looked worse for wear. She stood feet from him with a scowl on her face.

“You have potential,” she spoke clearly as her hand clawed at the glass separating them, “A half-breed with druid-like abilities. You're exactly what I've been looking for this whole time. Why the Champion was taken. He showed potential too. My druids were useless, so I had them hunted down. Couldn’t leave loose ends.”

Shiro didn't dare to breathe as she scratched the surface of the container as Keith frowned more.

“But you save the Champion too much!” She hissed as her hand lit up with dark lightning, “We'll fix that soon. Your bond with the Black Paladin will be your downfall. You will destroy Voltron and its paladins!”

Shiro felt himself acting before he was aware. With a shout, he jumped out at her. His hand flew much further than he did, bayard already in its hold. With a flash of purple light, the weapon lengthened into a blade, not unlike the one his clone had used. Taking her by surprise, he rammed it through her body, cutting it in half. She let out a shocked gurgle as she fell to the ground, hand losing its magic. Glaring at her, the bayard transformed back.

“You've already taken everything else from me,” he spat as she started to fade, “I won't let you take him too.”

With one last hiss, Haggar stopped moving. Shiro rushed over to the glass, catching the other as the chamber opened. Keith collapsed into Shiro's side, and Shiro cradled him to his chest as they both fell to the floor. Shiro removed his helmet.

“Keith,” Shiro smiled before he frowned, “Keith?”

Keith didn't respond as Shiro panicked inside. This wasn't happening. This couldn’t be happening. Keith was the strong one. The one who had helped him when he needed it. The one to save Shiro at every turn. It was Shiro’s turn to save him now.

Determined, Shiro wrapped the other into his arms as he closed his eyes. Letting out a deep sigh, he felt a presence in his mind. It felt like something familiar, a touch of something from long ago mixed with something new. In his head, he heard two lions roar loudly as his comms turned on a foot away.

“WHAT IS GOING ON!” Hunk exclaimed as the others made their own sounds of protest, “Where is the Black Lion going?”

“Where’s Atlas going?!?” Pidge protested even louder as the crew from the large ship joined in with the paladins. Shiro could hear Iverson swearing in the background, Coran stating something in Altean, and Sam and Veronica saying something about trying to stop the huge machine. Shiro heard the two lions roaring even louder this time, blocking out all the others. More lions echoed in the background as the others let out shouts of surprise. 

“They’re leading us somewhere!” James spoke up as Shiro listened in, “Let’s get ready for wherever they’re taking us.”

“We don’t really have a choice!” Someone shouted in the background before everything cut off for a moment. Shiro frowned as everything went quiet, even the lions were silent. Looking back at the paladin in his arms, he didn’t dare breathe as he looked down at the other’s face. Keith was still pale, lying limply in his hold, head resting on Shiro’s chest. Shiro’s heart sped up as he brushed ebony bangs back.

“Come on, Keith,” he begged as he continued to stare at the younger man, “Come back to me. You can’t do this to me either. I need you. I…”

Shiro hugged him tighter than before until his chin rested on Keith’s head.

“I love you too,” Shiro stated as the fight from long ago flashed through his mind. The sparks, the burning sword, him chasing after Keith with the intent to get rid of him, fighting for control, Keith’s words.

_“I love you.”_

About to let his grief take him over, he was startled when a hand gently took hold of his prosthetic. Glancing down, he almost laughed at the sight. Keith’s violet eyes were open, staring at him tiredly with a tiny grin. Shiro felt himself smile at the sight.

“Keith,” he breathed out softly, “Keith.”

“Shiro,” Keith said even softer as his hand gripped Shiro’s left now, “You’re okay?”

“Of course,” Shiro chuckled as he nodded, tears gathering in his eyes, “I’m doing good because of you.”

“Thanks,” Keith blinked tiredly as he stared up at the older man, “For saving me.”

“We saved each other,” Shiro parroted as he smiled down gently at the raven-haired man, “And I’m glad you’re here with me by my side, Keith.”

“Me too,” Keith smiled sweetly as Shiro got lost in his grey purple-tinted eyes. He was slowly gaining color back to his face, no longer sweating or in pain. His dark hair fell on his face, nearly hiding the scar on his right cheek. Shiro smiled even more as he continued to stare at his best friend who watched him back. Moments passed before a loud screeching was heard. Light burst through the building, blinding Shiro who covered Keith’s face. When he looked up, it was not to an enemy ship, but the Atlas and all five lions. Letting out a tiny snicker, he let Keith see who it was. Keith smiled along with him, happy just as he was to see their friends.

“We’ll get you back to them,” Shiro stated as he still held Keith close, “Just get some rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Keith smiled a little wider before his eyes slipped shut, and he fell into a natural sleep. Shiro stared at him for a moment, glad he was okay before his gaze moved upward. His hair whipped around his forehead as Keith’s fluttered here and there as Shiro grabbed him up. Waiting for the Atlas to land, he glanced down at the other in his arms.

They’d be okay. They were going to be fine.


End file.
